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It tells us in John 1:12-13, “Yet to all who receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” When we are born again into the family of God we become His children. And just like little children we learn by our Heavenly Father’s example. We’ve all seen tiny toddlers attempting to mimic adult actions…it’s how children learn to do things…they model and copy their parents. We are to be imitators of God…modeling our lives after Him, and living as His beloved children.

As a Christian we live two lives. One is our inner life…or our vertical life. This is our very intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father and consists of prayer and Bible study. This vertical life is spent getting to know God. The other is our outer life…or our horizontal life. This is our relationship with others as an ambassador for Christ. It consists of being the hands and feet of Jesus. This horizontal life is spent showing the love of God to the unloved and unlovely. Both are vitally important and interdependent on each other…for both are necessary to a vibrant and growing Christian walk. Our vertical relationship with Christ sparks us to reach out horizontally to others with His love… which sends us back to Him to be refilled…only to be again compelled to reach out for Him.

The Apostle Paul wasn’t speaking to non-Believers in this passage. Rather, he was directing the faithful to stop judging one another. You probably know someone who has been deeply wounded at Church by some hyper-critical Carnal Christian, and now because of that, has turned their back totally on Christianity and anything to do with God. For them, they can only see hypocrisy in fellow Believers that should be showing the love of Jesus…but instead are negative and critical. Such Carnal Christians are a hindrance and a barrier to the Gospel Message.

To place in proper order… Paul wasn’t teaching that women were inferior to men, quite the opposite. In an age when women were downgraded and looked upon as mere property – Paul declared that in Christ there was no distinction in status between men and women (Gal. 3:28). He had even called the married couple, Priscilla and Aquila, by the same word…synergous – which meant “fellow workers.” God is a God of order, and by freely placing ourselves in submission in an orderly fashion under our husbands, we allow the blessings of the Lord to flow.

Just who is a servant of God? Pastors and Ministers…yes. Evangelists and Missionaries…yes. But have you ever given thought that you also are a servant of God? As a Believer, you have been given the responsibly as a Steward of the Gospel. In your Christian journey, the divine truths of following Jesus are being revealed to you every day. As a Believer, you are then held accountable for spreading the Gospel Message to those the Lord brings across your path.

You will hear something, and it won’t sit well with your Spirit. It may not be blatantly against what the Bible teaches…but it still gives an uneasy feeling when you hear it. Satan will corrupt and twist a Biblical principle just enough in order to make it “more politically correct and acceptable to all”…because you know, we don’t want to offend anyone. But unfortunately, bending over backwards as to not offend anyone, has gone to a whole new low in Christian circles.